Silence was never written down. ~Italian Proverb

Living Paycheck To Paycheck

How about your pay check? Does it last until the next one or does it run out and you always end up falling short and needing more? Are all your needs being met? If you are a christian isn’t God supposed to meet all your needs? Are you sitting back wondering why it’s not working for you? Why are you ending up in the negative every time? Where is this so called abundant life at anyway?

This is/ was me. So this is why I am sharing.

Where is all our attention going? Are we focused constantly on getting all the bills paid, wondering how we are going to just survive? Are we just a tad bit angry that we are serving God and HE is just not coming through for us like we were taught that He would? What is really going on anyway?

God is not holding back on us. He is not against money, wealth or riches. He IS against money having us. He is aginst the Spirit of Mammon which operates in our lives. We need to be very aware of what is actually going on.

So you barely make it from one check to the next. You ask God for increase. You expect things to get better. Nothing. Maybe there is a block. Just maybe if you open up and pray for a teachable spirit youmay learn some things you never knew. I did…

When I prayed for a teachable spirit and asked God to reveal why I am in this rut this is what He showed to me in great detail.

Maybe you are working off of a cursed pay check. Mine has definitely been cursed. Well what do I mean by that? Well, first I have been robbing God. Anytime we rob it results in a curse on our finances. Yes, that means our paychecks, check books, loose change, pocket money, spending money and the like. Acurse means that something dies before it’s time. It runs out. It is not fruitful. Being cursed refers to scarcity which is insufficiencyorshortnessofsupply and barrenness.

Because we keep running out … if you are like me you just can’t afford to put God first in your finances. There are way too many things that you need. Not want, but need. You have to fill the gas tank up to get to work. You have to pay the rent and have a place to live. You are not out wasting all your money on frivolous things that you don’t need. You are trying to make an honest living here. So what in the world is the problem? God certainly should understand where your heart is and that you just can’t put one red cent in the offering plate or tithe envelope. He is God and He knows this. You are serving Him as best as you can. So what if you don’t have any money to contribute? You want to do the right thing but you are stuck (enslaved). You just can’t get out of that rut.

I found out that I was serving a master that I knew nothing about (maybe you are too). No, I am not talking about God. I am talking about the Spirit of Mammon. Who in the world is that you may ask? Well, let me explain….

Matthew 6:24 tells us we cannot serve two masters: for either we will hate the one, and love the other; or else we will hold to the one, and despise the other. We cannot serve God and Mammon.

I was saying “well, I am not enslaved to anyone. I am not serving anyone but God. That’s what I thought too”.

First let’s get clear as to what is it like to be enslaved or to serve someone or something? According to Webster the definition of a servant is: a person who is devoted to or guided by something. The definition of enslaved is: to be a slave-someone who is legally owned by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay, a person who is strongly influenced and controlled by something.

So what does that have to do with anything you may be asking. Mammon is simply money or riches right? We certainly don’t even have enough money. And riches, well that’s another story. That’s way out of our reach.

Well the truth is Mammon is not just referring to money or riches. Let me explain….

I had no idea what Mammon was, I always thought it meant money in general. Well, I learned that Mammon is an Aramaic word which describes a spirit that is operating in the world system.

Mammon was a term used by the Babylonians and it meant “planted in confusion”. Mammon is actually spirit ruler. It seduces (leads, draws away or persuades) me to put money ( or the attention on money) before God. It seeks to dominate and control me. It seeks to enslave me. It causes me to live beyond my means, to live financially on the edge all the time, to live in fear that I won’t have enough. It’s operation in my life will produce anxiety over unmet needs, fear of my needs not being met in the future. As long as I am serving the spirit of Mammon I am operating in fear and pride. I think “I can do this”. “I’ve got this”. I don’t trust you (God) enough to take care of me. I strive to do it on my own. Somehow it will all work out, I just have to keep on keeping on. But I also learned that in Malachi when he says I am cursed for robbing God, one of the meanings of “cursed” means to wither and die before it’s time. My money runs out or dies and dries up before my next check gets here. Therefore I remain a slave to Mammon. This nasty spirit causes me to keep going around and around in circles.. the same pattern. Never getting anywhere financially. Staying stuck. Stagnant.

But when we finally get the revelation of who is operating in our check books and controlling our pay check we may want to get that spirit off of us and out of our lives. Stop serving Mammon. We can’t serve God and Mammon. At this point you may think (as I did) that you are in control but that is just a smoke screen. You (we) are actually being controlled. You (we) are serving. You (we) are enslaved.

So I encourage you (along with my own self) to renounce that spirit and stop its operation in your life. Put all your trust in God for your financial needs. Put all your attention on seeking HIM first and let HIM add everything else to you.

In the old testament Deuteronomy 29:4-6 in the Contemporary English Version says: “He has even told you, “For forty years I, the LORD, led you through the desert, but your clothes and your sandals didn’t wear out, and I gave you special food. I did these things so you would realize that I am your God.” But the LORD must give you a change of heart before you truly understand what you have seen and heard.”

God can put a blessing on your money, bank account and pay checks. When God blesses He can make things last longer than they should. He did it for the Israelites. Their clothes and shoes lasted for over 40 years. God can do supernatural things, He is a supernatural God after all.

So I am challenging myself and you to stand up, get up and STOP serving and being enslaved to the Spirit of Mammon. Serve God and don’t rob HIM.